What is CIBIL and its role in the Borrowing Process?

TransUnion CIBIL Limited (Formerly known as Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited) is the leading credit bureau and Credit Information Company (CIC) in India. The primary function of CIBIL is to collect and maintain financial data as provided by the lenders to further generate and provide credit reports and credit scores for its customers. The credit score offered by CIBIL ranges between 300-900, wherein any score of 750+ depicts responsible and good consumer behavior that further helps individuals avail credit at lower interest rates with additional benefits. 

In the following sections, we will discuss key details about India’s leading Credit Information Company (CIC) TransUnion CIBIL and its role in the borrowing or lending process.

Role of TransUnion CIBIL in the Lending Process

TransUnion CIBIL is a RBI licensed credit bureau that is authorized to collect and maintain consumer information as provided by the financial institutions to generate credit reports for both individuals, as well as companies. These credit reports play a crucial role in the approval or denial of credit applications for new credit, such as loans and credit cards. The details of this process are as follows:

• Financial institutions, such Banks/NBFCs submit the credit data or consumer information of individuals and companies i.e. details of their past credit behaviour, including account details, outstanding loan amount, repayment trends, existing loan/credit card information, enquiries etc. on a monthly basis to CIBIL
• CIBIL collates this data and uses its unique statistical algorithm to calculate and generate Credit Information Reports (CICs) for individuals that include CIBIL Score (300-900) and Company Credit Reports (CCRs) for companies that contain CIBIL Rank (1-10)
• Lenders can check the CIBIL report and CIBIL Score/CIBIL Rank to evaluate the risk of lending to applicants and accordingly approve or reject new loan/credit card applications
• Applicants with good CIBIL score are preferred by lenders and are eligible to avail loans at low interest rates, as well as instant credit card approvals. Individuals with low CIBIL score may able to avail fresh credit but at higher interest rates with lesser benefits.

Suggested Read: Reasons for Rejection of your Credit Card Application

Steps to Check and Download your Free CIBIL Report

Follow these simple steps to check and download your free CIBIL Score and receive monthly updates:

Step 1: Click here to check your free CIBIL score

Step 2: Enter your basic details, such as name, mobile number, email address and verify it by using OTP authentication

Step 3: Click on the ‘Get Free Credit Report’ button to know your credit score

Step 4: Select CIBIL score, choose the language and month and click on the ‘Download’ button to download your CIBIL report

Step 5: Your Date of Birth (DDMMYYYY format) is the password of your CIBIL report

Note: If you find any discrepancy in your credit report, you can raise a dispute with CIBIL. However, for any other query, you can contact creditreport@paisabazaar.com

Also Read: 10 Easy Steps to Improve your Credit Score?

Components of CIBIL Report

Following are the various components of CIBIL report:

• CIBIL Score: CIBIL score is reflected in the first section of the CIBIL report that features a 3-digit numric ranging between 300 and 900, which sums up your credit history and creditworthiness. It is considered as the most important component of your CIBIL report
• Personal Information: This section contains your name, gender, date of birth, and identification numbers such as passport number, PAN, etc.
• Contact Information: Your address(s) and telephone numbers are provided in this section
• Account Information: This part of the CIBIL credit report contains information about your current as well as previous loans and credit cards, your outstanding balance, overdue amount, loan amount, credit card limit, etc.
• Enquiry Information: Whenever you apply for a credit card/loan, the lender requests CIBIL for a copy of your credit information report (CIR). Such a request made by the lender is called an enquiry. This section of the CIR contains details of the credit application, amount and dates when such enquiries were made along with the name of the financial institution that made the enquiry.

Note: CIBIL credit report basically provides a detailed historic record of how an individual has handled debt in the past. Please note that the credit report does not include details of an individual’s investment or savings.

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CIBIL Rank

TransUnion CIBIL also calculates and generates credit rank for businesses, enterprises and MSMEs. CIBIL rank serves as a numeric summary of the details included in a CIBIL Company Credit Report (CCR). It varies on a scale of Rank 1 to 10, where Rank 1 is considered the best rank with companies at least risk for lenders and Rank 10 is the worst being companies at maximum risk or even at default.

As CIBIL rank indicates a company’s past handling of credit, it can significantly affect the chances of getting a new loan sanctioned. The closer a company’s CIBIL rank is to 1, the higher are the chances of getting approved for fresh credit at lower interest rates.

Why is the CIBIL report considered important by lenders?

TransUnion CIBIL is the nation’s leading and most trusted credit bureau that collects and manages consumer information as provided by the lenders. It depicts the creditworthiness and credit behaviour of the applicant. At the time of credit application approval, lenders consider CIBIL report as the primary determinant to analyze the creditworthiness of the applicant or the risk involved in lending money to the borrower. Therefore, it becomes highly important for financial institutions in their loan approval process.

Why does CIBIL Score Matters?

CIBIL report consists of CIBIL score which is one of the primary components that helps the lenders to check the credit behaviour and decide on loan approval or denial. CIBIL score ranges from 300-900 and holds major importance in deciding the creditworthiness of the applicant. Applicants with CIBIL score of 750 or above and as close to 900 are considered first by lenders in their loan or credit card approvals at low interest rates, along with added benefits.

CIBIL Customer Care

• CIBIL Helpline Number for consumers is (+91) 22-614-043-00. This helpline number is operational from 10:00 AM to 06:00 PM (Monday- Friday)
• Fax: (+91)22-66384666
• You can also write to CIBIL at its registered address. The address is:

TransUnion CIBIL Limited
One World Centre, Tower 2A, 19th Floor,
Senapati Bapat Marg, Elphinstone Road,
Mumbai – 400 013

FAQs

Q. What is CIBIL Self Service Portal?

Ans. You can avail various services of TransUnion CIBIL by creating ‘myCIBIL Account’ which provides access to the CIBIL self-service portal that include services like checking CIBIL score, viewing/downloading CIBIL credit report, initiating correction of report errors through CIBIL dispute resolution.

Q. How long does CIBIL keep an individual’s credit history records?

Ans. CIBIL maintains a record of your credit history for 7 years from the date of last report.

Q. Is CIBIL score only applicable in India?

Ans. Yes, CIBIL score is only applicable in India as it is generated on the basis of data provided by Indian lenders only.

Q. Does TransUnion CIBIL have a mobile application in India?

Ans. No, TransUnion CIBIL does not have a mobile application for India. However, partners of CIBIL, such as Paisabazaar.com, have mobile apps through which you can check your credit report and score for free with monthly updates on email and WhatsApp.

Q. Does CIBIL publish a willful defaulter list?

Ans. No, CIBIL does not publish a willful defaulter list, as it does not maintain any defaulter list. Rather individual banks and RBI provide a list of the borrowers who have failed to repay the loan despite their capacity to do so. However, CIBIL does maintain a database of cases that contains suit filed cases and non-suit filed cases, where a lender can search for a willful defaulter.

Q. How often do banks submit data to CIBIL?

Ans. Banks and other financial institutions submit customer data regarding loans and credit cards on a monthly basis to CIBIL.

Q. Can my records be altered or deleted by CIBIL?

Ans. No, CIBIL does not change or delete the records of your credit history. It just collects data from its member financial institutions and evaluates it to generate a credit information report and credit score.

Q. What does credit score of ‘NA/NH’ mean?

Ans. CIBIL Score of NA/NH stands for not applicable/no history. It simply means one of the following:

• Your credit history is too short or does not exist at all
• You have not been associated with any credit activity in the last 2 years
• You have add-on credit cards only and thus lack credit exposure

Please note credit score of ‘NA/NH’ does not indicate a poor credit history. However, it may decrease the chances of getting a loan sanctioned by some lenders as the risk of lending to you cannot be estimated by prospective lenders.

Q. How often is CIBIL Score updated?

Ans. Lenders send out credit data of their customers to CIBIL every month (30-45 Days), hence CIBIL score may get updated once every month. So, it is highly recommended to check your credit score regularly. To know why, click here.

Q. Can I get a loan with a low CIBIL score?

Ans. Yes, you may still get a loan with low CIBIL score, as long as you meet the other eligibility criteria specified by the lender. However, you may have to pay a higher interest rate or receive a lower loan amount.

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